


Happy Birthday, Professor.

by moodyvalentinestories (moodyvalentine)



Series: ♡ Rachel Fields x Thomas Hunt ♡ [3]
Category: Hollywood U: Rising Star
Genre: F/M, Teacher-Student Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-09
Updated: 2019-11-09
Packaged: 2021-01-26 02:44:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21366880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moodyvalentine/pseuds/moodyvalentinestories
Summary: It’s Professor Hunt’s birthday, and Rachel’s going to play nice for once.
Relationships: Thomas Hunt/Main Character, Thomas Hunt/Original Character(s), Thomas Hunt/Rachel Fields
Series: ♡ Rachel Fields x Thomas Hunt ♡ [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1493831
Kudos: 4





	Happy Birthday, Professor.

**Author's Note:**

> This is set between Chapter 76 and Chapter 77 of Wherefore Art Thou My Professor, by the way. Aka between the Date Auction and Sundance.

She told herself that it didn’t matter. That it was a day like any other. She didn’t have to do anything special. She _wasn’t going to _do anything special. Not for him. Not after… after what had happened the weekend before. Besides, she’d made a promise to herself. She was done being the one to take the initiative. If he wanted her around, it would have to be him. So who even cared that it was his birthday? Rachel sure as hell didn’t.

Of course, that wasn’t quite true, even if she told herself it was. And she _wasn’t_ just going to do nothing. Was being nice to him for once too special a thing to do? Probably not. She would have done this for any of her professors, right? Not being annoying for one day, not talking back. Then again, there wasn’t really any other professor she could compare him to. He was the only one she ever really talked back to. Because _he_ was just plain rude!

Either way, she’d made the decision. She was going to be a good student for once. It didn’t have to mean anything. It didn’t even have to be a birthday present. Maybe she just felt like being nice for the day. He would likely not even notice.

* * *

Thomas was surprised when he saw her in her seat a few minutes before class was set to begin, but tried not to read too much into it. Perhaps she was starting to take her studies seriously.

He didn’t quite believe that. Surely, she had an agenda. Especially today – as if he hadn’t suffered enough already. The rest of the faculty had surprised him in his office earlier, bringing store-bought – _store-bought!_ – cake and singing Happy Birthday. The last thing he needed was Rachel planning something to ruin his day.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t very well throw her out unless she actually did something, and being on time – _early_, even – certainly didn’t count. He just had to live with it and hope it wouldn’t be too bad. She would likely wait until after class, anyway, so if he disappeared fast enough, perhaps he could avoid whatever disaster she’d been cooking up.

More and more students filed into the auditorium, eventually obstructing his view of her. _A good thing_, he told himself. It was unnerving nonetheless. Normally, she would _make sure_ he’d see her. Why not today? It must have been by design. Or he was just paranoid.

In any case, he cast her out of his mind and began his lecture. It didn’t escape his notice, though, that Rachel didn’t interrupt him once. _That’s great_, he tried to convince himself. She was finally being reasonable.

But with every passing moment that she was quiet, he grew more irritated. Was she ignoring him? Was she busy doing something else? He couldn’t tell – because he couldn’t bloody see her. His hands gripped the sides of the lectern tighter. Why did this even bother him? _He_ had pushed her away the weekend before, after all.

Of course, that was exactly the reason it bothered him. Normally, Rachel would do everything in her power to get his attention. Even when they hadn’t talked, she’d always been obnoxiously present. Had his rejection pushed her away for good? But even if it had, how could she just… stop? He knew he hadn’t. He hadn’t stopped thinking about that night. _That kiss._

He narrowed his eyes. That must have been it – she wasn’t planning anything, this _was_ her plan. After all, she _knew_ he had feelings for her, so she must have known this would be torture for him. He wasn’t just going to let her do that.

“Miss Fields, what do you think?”

The boy in front of her moved his head to the side a bit, and Thomas could finally see her again. She was looking at him, attentively, and said, “I completely agree. I mean, we will always be critical of our own work, but if we don’t like it, how can we expect others to?”

He wanted to tell her she was wrong, or ask her to elaborate, or say anything else that would make her keep talking until she said something that would warrant him snapping at her in any way. But her answer was perfectly fine. He held back a sigh.

“Exactly. Thank you, Miss Fields,” he said and continued his lecture. Fine. It wasn’t like he cared, anyway. _Not at all._

* * *

Rachel didn’t expect to be held back after class. She hadn’t done anything wrong, after all. The opposite, really. Nonetheless, Professor Hunt had asked for a word with her. _It’s probably just about Sundance,_ she reasoned. What else would it have been about?

“What is it, Professor?” she asked once everyone else had left the room.

He folded his arms in front of his chest. “What was that today?”

“What was… what, exactly?”

“Don’t play dumb now, Miss Fields,” he said, shaking his head. “You’re _never_ this quiet.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Is this going to be a repeat of New York?”

He winced at the memory. “No. I simply—”

“I was just trying to do something nice for you. It _is_ your birthday, isn’t it?”

His mouth fell open. He hadn’t expected that. “Oh. _Oh_.”

“It was a stupid idea, anyway,” she said and shrugged.

Thomas didn’t think before he spoke. “It was. I much prefer you when you are yourself.”

“Did you just—”

“That is all, Miss Fields. You’re dismissed.”

She grinned then, and took a step towards him. “Oh no, Professor, would I really be myself if I just did what you tell me to?”

He cursed himself for letting that slip. Why had he let that slip?

“What is it that you want me to do for your birthday, Professor?” She was standing right in front of him now, far too close, and put a hand on his chest. He simply hoped she couldn’t feel how fast his heart was beating. Her smirk told him that she could.

“Rachel, don’t…” he said. It came out quieter than he wanted it to.

Her smirk grew as she leant in to whisper in his ear. “Happy Birthday, Professor.”

He was going to break then and there, every fibre of his being screaming at him to seize the opportunity and pull her into a kiss, but he didn’t get the chance. Rachel simply gave him a quick peck on the cheek, then turned around to walk away, leaving him with nothing but the lingering memory of how her lips felt on his skin.


End file.
